DA 2010 Episode 13: Imprisoned Heroes
by AngelExposed
Summary: The X-Men are all imprisoned in the GMCF and are more or less all defenseless without the use of their powers. Meanwhile in Bayville, Monet is trying her hardest to find out what's going on. (Finished...R&R.)
1. Chapter 1: The Morning After

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 13

Chapter 1:  The Morning After

          Rogue opened her eyes to unfamiliar surroundings, and for several moments, remained dazed and confused as she gazed around her.   Thoughts of the last moments before unconsciousness were a complete blur and her body ached and tingled strangely from the inside.

          "Oh my god, you're awake…I thought maybe you were comatose or something…" she felt hands on her shoulders, and turned to look around, Kitty was there, looking relieved.   "I'm so glad you're okay!" Kitty hugged her back.

          "What's going on?" Rogue asked groggily, she rubbed her head, "what happened…where are we?" She sat up straight, beginning to feel alarmed now.

"I can't say for sure…" Kitty looked around with an expression of wonder.  "I woke up in here…same as you…last thing I remember I was lying in bed…and…then I can't remember anything else…" Kitty rubbed her head.  "I haven't been awake too long…" she added, sounding just as groggy as Rogue did.  "I thought you were dead for a few moments, but then I saw you were still breathing, I was SO relieved like you wouldn't believe."

Rogue took a good glance around her, they were in a very small room, four smooth grey walls surrounded them, one wall had a small box like window barred up with shining metal, and opposing that wall was a large door, the same shining metal, so smooth their distorted reflections stared back at them from it.  Two plain steel bunks, a small sink and a toilet were all that consisted of the room, the bunks were left without mattresses.

"Looks like a prison…" Rogue whispered, alarm settling in even more than before.  "Where…where the hell ARE we…"

          Kitty glanced around also, "those bars, I can't be sure but they look like adamantium…I've seen Logan unsheathe his claws enough to know the difference between Adamantium and normal steel."

          Rogue ran her bare fingers across the walls, "these don't look too sturdy…" she banged her knuckle softly against it, "it's solid, but I could probably punch a hole through it…" she braced herself.

          "Wait…before we start trying to escape we should probably figure out what's going on exactly," Kitty drew her breath, "what's the last thing you remember?"

          Rogue sat down upon one of the steel bunks, head in her hands, "I…I don't know…it's kind of hazy…I was…watching a movie…I think it was 'Wuthering Heights', and then I…" Rogue sat up straight, "Remy…I saw him there…I went to hug him…and then…something cold against my…" Rogue touched her neck, there was something there, to touch it caused a tinge of pain to sweep through her flesh, "neck…"

          "Oh my god!  I remember too!  Something touched my neck also…and it was hurting…and that's when everything kind of…gets hazy…" Kitty touched her own neck, "what is this?" she frowned, she tried to pull it off, a surge of electricity crackled through her and she jumped, letting go, "what the hell…"

          Rogue tried the same thing, only to be electrocuted in the same manner, "WHAT IS THIS THING?" she gasped in pain.

          Kitty moved closer, "let me see…" she pushed Rogue's hair away carefully from her face and stared at the device.

  It was shaped like a large silver beetle.  Tiny silver teeth surrounded the odd contraption and pierced into the skin so that it grasped on tightly, a glass case revealed the microtechnology inside.  A small chip was connected to three wires, red, blue and brown, and they trailed down into a wire that protruded the case and left into one grey wire that was inserted beneath the skin – no doubt by an needled point.  Beneath the glass case was a tiny vial of bright purple liquid that was being fed into a fine clear wire that also protruded the casing and went beneath the skin.

          "Okay…it's like…definitely some kind of microtechnology, there's two wires…one is feeding some kind of glowing purple stuff into a vein on your neck…the other, is just lying under the skin, I think it's what's giving off the electrical surge…" Kitty explained, "I've NEVER seen anything like this…"

          Rogue winced, "I want it OFF!" she grasped and tried to pull with all her might, the teeth of the thing seemed to bite in even harder, deeper, and the electrical currents this time were far stronger, she fell to her knees with a cry of pain.

          "Whoah, you're making yourself bleed…" Kitty cringed, "better leave it, there has to be a way to disable them before yanking them off," she explained.

          Rogue stared, "I'm bleeding?" she asked, she touched her neck and then examined her bare fingers, bright red blood was smudged upon her fingertips, "I…I can't remember the last time I bled…" she whispered, shaken, "I mean…in a way that's not menstrual..."

          "Maybe the teeth on this are adamantium…" Kitty suggested, "You're invulnerable…but did we ever test that theory with adamantium?" she asked.

          Rogue shook her head, "Logan was too paranoid to try and nick me in case he accidentally cut too deep…" she stared at the blood on her fingers in absurd fascination.

          Kitty touched the adamantium door, she stared at her distorted reflection, "if we're here, I reckon the others must be too," Kitty said, "I'm still not sure if that would be a good thing or a bad though," she confessed.

          Rogue shook her head, "be serious, ALL of us?  In the same Prison…there's no way...it'd have to be some incredible army of super mutants to have managed that…"

          "Wait here," Kitty said, "I'm gonna take a look around."

          "Shouldn't I go with you?" Rogue asked, frowning at her.

          "No," Kitty said, "You should wait here, I could get ambushed the minute I leave this room," she reminded.

          Rogue nodded, and made herself as comfortable she could on the steel bunk.

          Kitty stepped over to the wall, held her breath and rushed towards it, surprised to only slam her face into it rather than phase through it.  "OW!"

          Rogue jumped up, "what…?"

          "I…wow…my powers…didn't work…they always work…" Kitty whined nasally, she touched her nose which had taken a bashing against the wall.

          "Your nose is bleeding…" Rogue made a face.

          "Terrific," Kitty said, she tipped her head back and pinched the bridge of her nose, "hurts like a bitch…"

          "Let me try…" Rogue stood opposite the nearest wall, and braced herself to punch, stepping back just a little, fist in position.

          "Wait!" Kitty gasped, "you could end up with a broken fist…" Kitty decided, "maybe you should test your powers first before you go rushing off and hurting yourself like I just stupidly did."

          "Okay…" Rogue said, she stepped back and gave a little hop, expecting her powers of flight to carry her into the air, she had expected to hit off the low ceiling, but instead, gravity denied her that.

          "See…" Kitty pointed out.

          "Maybe it's just my flying powers that are affected…" Rogue reached out with her bare hand, "give me your hand."

          Kitty reached out to Rogue's bare hand gingerly, and let her bare fingers touch lightly against her palm.   No pain, no feeling of being pulled from the inside out.  Just the cold skin of the palm of Rogue's left hand.

          Rogue sighed, "terrific..."

          "Looks like our powers are negated…" Kitty sighed also, "this thing on our necks is what's doing it…this purple liquid."

"Do you think its Mutant X?" Rogue asked.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Kitty admitted, "I mean it's been seven years, someone would have bound to have come up with a similar formula by now, right?"

Rogue shrugged, but decided to agree with that, "Okay, so…where do you think we are then?"

Kitty paused for a moment, "since we're in some kind of weird prison cell…I'm gonna guess we're in the mutant containment facility…" she stated coolly. 

          Rogue put her hands to her head, "this can't be happening…how could we be ambushed in our own HOME?!  In the X-Men headquarters!?  Our security is the highest in the world!!"

          "You said you saw Remy…and he's highly skilled in breaching any security system.  We've seen what he can do…" Kitty explained.

          "But our security systems changed dramatically in the last seven years," Rogue reminded, "we used technology he probably had never even heard of yet…how could he penetrate it?"

          "Because he spent time in the mansion…" Kitty reminded, "Around a week is all he NEEDS to get as much information as possible by sneaking around and locating blueprints and all the motion sensors and disarming and manoeuvre around them," Kitty explained, then stopped, "Oh my god, he totally screwed us over, didn't he?  He used his skills against us, he really did steal Hank's research…oh my god…"

          Rogue broke into tears, "why would he DO this to us?" she buried her face in her hands and sobbed.  It was hard to believe that Remy LeBeau could do this, but she'd seen him, and she knew that there was no man on earth who could have pulled it off except from Remy LeBeau.  "God…when I saw him there and he came in…I felt so relieved, he was there in front of me and everything suddenly came together and it felt like…like suddenly my luck had changed and…we would get to be together finally…and then this…GOD, that asshole, how COULD he…WHY?!" she lamented.

          Kitty sat beside her and put her arm around her friend, "Revenge maybe…" she sighed, "Maybe…maybe he's just never really gotten over how we totally blamed him for Jared's death before checking the facts…or maybe he's just getting paid a hell of a lot of money to do this to us."

Rogue felt the weight of the sadness pull her down, she felt like giving up, heart sinking in her chest.

Kitty patted Rogue's shoulder, "at least we have each other…and sooner or later someone is gonna come in here to see us…guards or…I don't know, whoever wanted us here in the first place…" she said, "When that happens, we just need to use all our HUMAN skills to make sure that we take him down."

          Rogue tried to wipe her face, still half sobbing, "alright…"

          "And just remember…either way if all of the X-Men ARE in this place or if they AREN'T, they'll be coming up with SOME sort of plan…they'd never let us down and leave us here to rot."

          "But if we're in a cell of two…they might all be the same…" Rogue interjected.

          "Possibly, but we can't give up hope…" Kitty stated, "Just sit tight and wait, something's bound to happen."


	2. Chapter 2: Monet's Arrival

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 13

Chapter 2:  Monet's Arrival

          Monet was sitting on the tail of a large jet she'd spotted while on her travels, it seemed as if it had only been three hours when her powers of flight had already begun to weaken from exhaustion, and seeing the jet making its way over the ocean had been a blessing, although trying to stay attached to it without being blown off was a challenge in itself.

          The journey had been long, and the noise from the jet had been almost deafening, but Monet had remained there nonetheless.  She couldn't block out the sound of the jet, nor the thoughts of the people inside it, and they both felt as if they were rattling inside her head insanely.

          She'd lost concept of time already, it had been 8am when she'd left Scotland,  but without a watch it had been impossible to determine how long she'd been up in the air, and now she was somewhere over the states in a completely different timezone, she had no clue how long it had been since the X-Men had been ambushed in their own home.

          It wasn't too much longer until Monet looked down and saw the familiar town of Bayville below, and smiling to herself thankfully, she leapt off the jet and soared down towards the town to get a better look.  The town was bustling with thoughts just as Muir Island had been, and they all seeped into Monet's mind, no matter how hard she tried to push them out.  Monet tried to concentrate on blocking them out of her mind while she headed towards the suburbs and then the small body of fields which led to the road to the Xavier Estate.

          The nearer she got to the mansion, the more the thoughts of the townsfolk faded away.  However, a strange sense of danger was approaching, it made the hairs on her arms beneath her black shirt stand on end.  Something was not right.

          Monet kept her distance from the mansion, although remained above it, looking down, she frowned, concentrating on its interiors.

          "Concentrate," she whispered to herself, "focus…how hard can it BE?  Jean Grey does it, surely anyone can…" Monet hovered, hands pressed to her head.  Her powers began to pick up on others in the mansion, two others.  Monet smiled in her succession, "see it isn't that difficult," she told herself.   The X-Men were gone.  She couldn't sense their presences anywhere in the mansion, but the other two seemed almost familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint them yet.

          She circled the mansion grounds for a few moments, and after seeing no threat she began to slowly descend.

          Monet could still sense danger, and it her senses were warning her more and more the closer she got to the ground.  "Something's not right…" she whispered to herself, her own voice reassuring.  She'd never been on any kind of mission before and this was the closest thing she could think to one.  However, none of the students were meant to be on missions alone, and now she began to feel familiar cold feet.

          "Don't be silly…you're invulnerable, they can't hurt you…"

          Monet spotted an open window, the problem was getting to it.  Her senses told her all the estates alarms would be set and if she went any further she'd trigger several of them.   Already, she felt defeated.

          She soared to a tree just off of the estate and sat upon a large branch, overlooking the estate. 

          How am I going to do this without setting off all the alarms? She asked herself, she pursed her lips together frowning as she glanced around, and then something caught her eye.

          A stray cat.

          It was dark when Rogue and Kitty both raised their heads as the adamantium door slid open.  Kitty braced herself to attack, but Rogue grabbed her arm and stopped her.  The room was almost totally dark save slithers of light coming from small light fixing on the ceiling which hardly provided anything to see by.

          "It would be wise to not attack," came a cold voice from doorway, two red eyes, stood out against the inky blackness, the figure entered the room, and the door slid open, "unless you want solitary…and believe me…you don't want to be in there alone."

          "Remy?" Rogue stood up, recognising the voice at once.

          "You could call me that, you could call me many things…" he replied, he stepped into a slither of light coming from the small box window, the face of Remy stared back at them both, but they realised quickly he was not who he appeared to be, "but I'm not him…a blessing in itself really."

          Rogue frowned, "you're a clone!  You were the one who tricked me!" she stood up, fists clenched.

          "Oh, no I think you're mistaken," the clone replied, and smirked in that same way Remy always did, "y'see, there are many of us…master likes to call us drones.  Keeps it niiiiiiice and simple.  We're all numbered."

          "Why did you bring us here?" Kitty asked, she grabbed a hold of Rogue's arm and pulled her back from wanting to attack the clone.

          "You broke the law, you hacked the database with your clever little applications.  And that's punishable by instant imprisonment.  And in your case, the Mutant Containment Facility is your prison."

          "Sentence?" Kitty asked.

          "Life," the clone smirked, "put these on," he tossed them each an item of clothing.

          "Or?" Kitty demanded, she glanced down at the all in one coverall, it was a crude orange colour, with black numbers printed on the chest and the thigh.

          "Or…" the clone pushed a button on a small communicator he had, the admantium door slid open again, and two more identical clones stepped in.  They folded their arms, and they loomed menacing.

          "We can take you!" Rogue snorted.

          "Really?  Letsee then?" The first clone steadied himself.

          Rogue threw herself towards the first clone, and tried to swiftly punch, he caught her hand, and held it with a crushing strength, then twisted her arm behind her back until it felt as if he might rip it off.  She twisted her way out of his grasp and tried to throw out a kick, he blocked her kick masterfully, slammed the side of his hand against her shoulder, then hit her in the jaw with his knee, and she went down.

          Rogue let out a wail of pain and crumpled to the floor, she hadn't felt such pain in a very long time, she'd forgotten what it was like to feel physical pain like this, to be hurt by someone else.  She tried to get up, aching now.  A clone caught her cheek with a fist and she fell again, she saw blood spatter over the cement and felt horror. 

          Kitty shot towards the clone on the right side of the first, he flipped himself out of the way, catching her chin with one foot as he did so which caused her sailing back, she slammed into the wall and felt her shoulder crack against the wall.  Pain shot through her and every nerve seemed to jolt, but she didn't give up.  She tried again, leaping towards him again, but he swerved, and bounced himself from the wall to the ceiling, grabbed onto the light fixing, and swung a leg out, catching her in the chest hard with his foot. 

Kitty fell to the ground with a thud, she rolled over, she saw the foot of one of the clones coming down towards her face, she rolled again then felt a knee against her back.

          "Ow!" Kitty yelped, "let me go you stupid carbon copy!" she said breathlessly, trying to recover quickly from the pain but failing miserably.

          "We know your every move…god knows, LeBeau worked with you two long enough," the first clone said, he kicked Rogue in the side, and left her where she was, "you're not as powerful as you used to be...and we could do a lot…worse…to prove that…"

          Rogue felt tears of pain blur her eyes, she heard the door open and footsteps, she had hoped to get up but the pain in her side was too great.  "No…" she groaned.

          Kitty felt the hand of a clone grab at her hair, and then her forehead slammed off of the floor as the clone forced her head forwards to do so.  She literally saw stars and light and was dazed for several moments, she heard more footsteps and the sliding of the door, and she looked around.  They were gone.

          Rogue was clutching her side, her face pressed against the rough concrete floor, she couldn't get up, the pain was so bad.

          Kitty sat up, blood dribbled down her face from a cut on her head that had been caused by her forehead colliding with the cement.  She wiped it away, wincing in pain, still dazed, "are you okay?" she asked Rogue.

          Rogue was on the floor, "it hurts so bad…" she groaned, "I can't move."

          "Bastard probably broke a rib or two," Kitty crawled over weakly, still in agony, "even the real Remy never fought like that…did you see what he did?" she asked.

          Rogue shook her head.

          "He…he did something…that I've never seen Remy do…he bounded…like …like…" Kitty shook her head, she couldn't remember what she'd been intending to say, the pain in her head clouding her thoughts incredibly.  "It doesn't matter," she noted Rogue's pain was more important than making assumptions about the clones right now.

          "You're bleeding…" Rogue whimpered, looking up at Kitty through teary eyes.

          Kitty shrugged, "it's nothing…one of them banged my head off the floor…" she held the wound, blood still dripping persistently from the wound.

          Kitty moved away, pulled off her nightgown and slipped the orange coverall on, "guess we better do what they say," she zipped the coverall up quickly and then picked up her nightgown, she tore it up to make a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding on her head with.

          Rogue somehow pulled herself up wearily, "why would they do this to us?  We did nothing wrong…they can't DO this to us…"

          "We hacked their server, they said that's punishable…and since the government are involved it's probably legal…" Kitty bandaged up her head with the strip of cotton.  "Right now, I think we should play along and do as they say.  We need to find out more…" Kitty stated, "then once we know enough, we can plan some sort of escape…"


	3. Chapter 3: Scaredy Cat

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 13

Chapter 3: Scaredy Cat

          The mangy dark grey stray cat hissed and spat at Monet as she held him and took to the air, it fought against her, trying to scratch, sending its claws through her black shirt, but not doing much against her skin thanks to her invulnerability. 

          "I'm sorry, cat.  I need you to set off the alarms on the south side of the estate." she said sympathetically to the cat, "if you're still around by the end of this I'll adopt you, give you food and name you Fluffy," she promised, grinning at the thought of how stupid that would seem.  She didn't expect the cat to survive, but lives were at stake and the life of a cat seemed non-significant next to the lives of the X-Men. 

          Monet let the cat drop into the thick grass below, she heard it squeal in fright but watched as it masterfully landed on its feet. 

"Hmmm that old wives tale must be true," she mused as she watched the cat sprint off.  It was just as she expected, she heard alarms sounding all over the place, she kept to the sky.  With the alarms going off on the east side, Monet knew if she entered the mansion and any other alarms set off, the sound would be lost amongst those others.

          It was now nighttime, she'd been biding her time until darkness fell, knowing it would be safest for her to make her move.  Conveniently the clothes she'd picked when she'd woke up had been black, she wouldn't be easy to spot.  As long as she didn't touch the ground, and let the cat take the rap for setting the alarms off, she knew she'd be fine.  She doubted whoever might be in the mansion would see her in the air. 

          The mansion was swathed in blackness, none of the lights were on inside at all, and even the floodlights outside – save the one on the porch – were all out.  Monet was thankful for this, as it would give her more opportunity to move freely throughout the darkness without being seen. 

          She noted an open window on the second floor of the mansion and soared over, she climbed up onto the ledge of the mansion and hid in the shadows, and waited, watching for any movement.

          She could barely believe her eyes when three Remy LeBeau's exited the mansion, holding flashlights, looking dangerously around.

          "The alarms don't just set themselves off!" one of the Remy's stated angrily, "we're under attack."

          "Stop being paranoid," Another stated, "probably just an animal…a squirrel or…something…"

          Another disappeared off into the darkness to check around, the other two remained close together, watching.

          "We caught them all, didn't we?  We couldn't have missed one?" the first Remy asked of the second Remy.

          Monet listened closely, hiding in the shadows, something in her sensed that these men weren't…altogether quite human as she was.  Her powers weren't picking up thoughts the way they had with everyone else.  The thoughts should have been invading her head, but only her own thoughts remained.

          "Yes, we got them all…at least…all of the X-Men.  I don't know what happened to the young ones, there were kids in the place…teenagers…all gone…probably sent off somewhere…they'll have to come back eventually."

          Monet frowned, and fell in to her own thoughts, what if Sean and Moira or any of her team were coming after her?  They'd be endangered.  This was one thing she had not expected.  She'd thought to fast to properly weigh out the situation.  It wasn't like her, but she'd been traumatised by the manifestation of her powers, not thinking clearly.

          I guess I am only human after all, she thought miserably, she slipped into the open window into a dark room, she glanced around.  In the light from the window she could see the bed was unmade, pillows askew.  Some of the blankets were on the floor. 

          Thank goodness the bedrooms weren't alarmed, she thought, she calmly moved over to the bedside cabinet and opened the small drawer.   Whoever this room belongs to surely has to have a flashlight, she thought.   She located a small keyring sized flashlight, she turned it on and made a face, "this will have to do…" she shone the light across the room.  On the dresser, was a photograph of Jean Grey and Scott Summers, the walls were pink, this was definitely a woman's room.

          Monet smirked a little and walked over to the wardrobe, she opened it up and fought through the hanging jackets, shirts and skirts to find a black leather uniform right at the back, "Bingo…" she whispered to herself.

          She knew she would need a uniform, her own clothes were flimsy and wouldn't stand up to much in a fight, and if she needed to fight, she wanted to be prepared.

          She slipped out of her own clothes quickly and pulled the uniform on, zipped it up and clamped the belt around herself, she glanced at herself in the mirror, smirking, she looked like one of the X-Men, and this was certainly appealing to her.

          If I ever get through this, I'm going to demand to be put on the team, she thought firmly as she grabbed a hair clip from the dresser and rolled her hair into a twist to hold it back from her face.  She remained quiet, constantly listening.   Outside she heard the three Remys' talking between themselves.

          "It was just a cat...I chased it off the property."

          The alarms had stopped, one of the Remys' had obviously disabled it.  Monet winced, this meant she would have to be much more quiet, and although she was good at this, she knew that Remy LeBeau – or whoever these men were – had very sensitive hearing and eyesight, she'd need to be extra careful.  Holding the flashlight, she crept quietly out of the bedroom, the hall was silent.

          I have to be slow and keep to the shadows, Monet thought.  I've read about Remy LeBeau on the database, he has exceptional nightvision…that is bad news for me.

          She quietly made her way along the hall, she heard footsteps, she swallowed and ducked into a shadow and crouched low, she watched as one of the Remys' passed by her. 

          What are these men?  Are they twins?  Triplets?  Clones? She raised an eyebrow watching until he disappeared into one of the rooms.  She swallowed, took a deep breath and continued, creeping along until she came to the staircase that led down into the foyer.  She began to head down the staircase, intent on going down to the war room, she had to get a message to Sean and Moira first that she was alright and everything was under control.  Then she could investigate further.

          Loud footsteps against the solid marble floors were echoing across the hall, Monet gasped and looked to either side, she had nowhere to go, she glanced up to the ceiling, and took off towards it in flight.  She pressed her back against the high ceiling, she swallowed nervously and watched as two of the clones came from the direction of the secret elevator.

          "Thought I heard something…" one of them announced.

          The other glanced around, "I see nothing…probably your imagination, unless that damned cat the others were going on about got in."

          Monet pressed the back of her head to the ceiling as if she were lying on the floor, she tried to remain as still as possible, any movement at all might give her position away.  To her horror, the slight movement of her head caused the clasp in her hair to snap away, and it fell towards the floor, landing loudly upon the floor with a strange clatter that echoed more than it should have – maybe it was just that everything else was so silent that the sound seemed amplified.  That sound rattled in Monet's head, and in an unladylike manner, she swore to herself and took off.

          "Intruder!" one of the clones cried, the lights came on as one of the clones hit the switch, and the whole foyer came into view, Monet squinted, her eyes unadjusted.

          Monet dived downwards, a glowing object narrowly missed her as she took off in flight towards the second floor hallway, and slammed into the wall at her left, exploding the wall, bricks and plaster flew at her, and a brick to the head sent her slamming into the opposing wall, and to the floor with a thud.  Dazed, she pulled herself up, another object, came at her, hitting her in the back, she felt it explode entirely, it forced her forward ten feet, she ducked into the nearest room, she heard the clones following her down the hall.

          She turned on the flashlight and shone it around the room quickly, trying to look for means of escape.  There was none that she could see, except the window, but that would only take her to back where she began, outside.

          The door was thrown open, and a clone rushed in, heading towards her with precision and speed, a swift kick caught her, but did not faze her, she blocked the second kick, and spun around in the air to kick back, she flipped over in the air, hair caught the clone in the chin, the kick so powerful it sent him crashing into the wall, she heard his head slam against it, the plaster came off the wall where his head had collided.  Then he dropped down upon the dresser, breaking it into pieces with the impact. 

Monet floated in mid air, observing for a moment to see if he was unconscious, the clone was not moving.  Monet knew she should have taken that moment to make an escape but something told her to check.  She quietly approached, the clone unmoving.  With a shaking hand, she put her fingers to his neck to check his pulse, there was none.  She brought her hand back to her mouth in horror at the realisation of what she'd done.

Turning towards the window, panic setting in already, she flew through the closed window, sending glass and pieces of wooden frame splintering through the air with her.  She turned back and looked through the open window once more before making her way as far from the mansion as she possibly could with only one thought pressing upon her mind.

She'd killed a man.


	4. Chapter 4: Rude Awakening

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 13

Chapter 4: Rude Awakening

          Rogue and Kitty had barely slept on the uncomfortable steel bunks.  Without mattresses they may as well have been sleeping on the floor for all the difference it would have made.  They had lost concept of time completely, and they were starving, they had not seen food in twenty four hours, and they were already feeling weakened.

          They had barely fallen asleep when they were awakened by a clone coming into the cell, "You two, up, NOW."

          Rogue sat up slowly, still in pain, "what…?" she looked at the clone confusedly, for one moment having forgotten where she was, and the image of Remy LeBeau in front of her for one moment made her heart jump, but then to remember all of a sudden she was in the Mutant Containment Facility, and her heart felt as if it turned to stone and sank into her stomach.

          Kitty sat up, "what's going on."

          "You two are being sent to work…move…" the clone pointed towards the doorway.

          Rogue stood slowly, the prospect of getting out of the cell at least giving her a glimmer of hope that there may yet be a way out of this.  She approached the doorway slowly, and Kitty followed, smoothing her short brown hair away from her face, it was slightly tinged with blood, and Kitty's face was still lightly stained with it despite the effort she'd made to wash it away in the small sink in the cell.

          "Don't think about trying to run," the clone stated as he walked behind them, "I got a remote here that'll send pain like you wouldn't believe surging through you…"

          Kitty glanced over her shoulder at the clone, "Who's running this operation anyway…and what ARE these things on our necks?"

          The clone shoved her forward hard, "shut up and keep walking," he stated.

          Rogue and Kitty walked down a large hall.  There were several floors, six – Kitty counted – and metal stairways led to thin balconies against walls lined with metal doors.  All those doors were obviously cells.

          There were several mutants around, three were mopping the floor that Kitty and Rogue were walking across, two more were being led in the opposite direction.  Rogue felt shivers as she noticed how thin and drawn they all looked, their hair stringy, their eyes sunken and tired, skin ashen.  Those sunken eyes watched as Kitty and Rogue went past.    One girl with long dark brown hair and dark skin gazed upon them with sad eyes, she looked tortured and confused.

          "I recognise that girl…" Kitty whispered, she was walking beside Rogue now, she leaned in a little to whisper, "that's X23!"

          Rogue gasped, "holy shit…"

          They kept walking, the clone pushing them on.

          Rogue happened to glance up to the third floor balcony, clones were leading Ororo Munro and Jean Grey along it, they caught each others eyes and looked helplessly and said nothing.

          Rogue felt terribly lost and vulnerable.  They were taken outside.  The location was on a large barren field, dead grass and sand blanketed the ground, high brick walls with electrified barbed wire laced the large domain.  The outside of the building was only half constructed, further along there was a construction site going on, a second building was being worked on, several unfamiliar mutants were using their powers to add to the structure, a few were working on scaffolding while others were laying bricks.

          "We get to use our powers?" Kitty asked hopefully.

          "Under surveillance," The clone replied, "we have six drones positioned, three are in positions hidden so you won't know where they are," he explained, "try to use your powers against us, and we'll make you feel pain so bad you'll feel as if you're being fried from the inside out…you do as you're told.  You don't move from the spot you're assigned to, you don't slack off, you"

          Kitty nodded understanding, she glanced towards Rogue and threw her a look that told Rogue to agree.

          "Fine," Rogue sighed.

          "You," the clone pointed to Rogue, "you're going to be taking piles of bricks up to that tower there, if you fly any higher than it or past there, your powers will be immediately deactivated and you'll be electrocuted."

          Rogue sighed, she glanced to Kitty.

          "You'll be sent to the laundry," he pointed at Kitty, "since your powers are basically useless," he nudged her.

"Asshole," Kitty muttered under her breath.

The clone pushed a button on a remote control he'd been holding, "Your powers are activated, Rogue, do as we say and you won't get hurt," he muttered, then he pushed Kitty, "this way."

          Rogue watched the clone and Kitty leaving, and she felt abandoned, she glanced towards the half built tower, she grabbed a pile of bricks from the larger pile nearby, and she took to the sky, her powers had returned, although they were incredibly weakened.  The bricks seemed several times heavier than they should have.  She landed upon a wooden platform upon a scaffolding in the centre of the half built tower.

          "Oooh, fresh blood," a large handsome mutant of Native American descent glanced towards her, "What'd you do to get put here?" he raised an eyebrow as he laid some raw cement upon the wall and slapped a brick on and pressed it down hard, "attack a human?"

          Rogue glanced towards him, "hacked the server," she headed down towards the ground, and retrieved more bricks and took them up to the tower.

          "I'm John," the large man stated, between his teeth he had a piece of long dead grass, "John Proudstar…but you can call me Thunderbird if you want," he reached out a friendly hand to shake hers.

          Rogue reached out her bare hand to his, then thought the better of it, she had no gloves, and she wasn't sure if her weakened state would still activate her powers to absorb his or not.  "I'm Rogue," she gave a slight wave.

          The piece of dead grass dropped from his mouth and he stared at her, "wow."

          Rogue raised her eyebrow, "something wrong?"

          "I've heard of you, you're one of the X-Men…" he suddenly looked quite crestfallen, "does this mean all the X-Men have been incarcerated also?" he asked sadly.

          Rogue heard the yell of a clone in protest who had noticed the lack of work, she glanced towards John Proudstar and quickly said, "I'm afraid so."

          Kitty stepped into the laundry, a large room filled with washing machines, drying machines, presses, steam irons and more.  Several women were busying themselves washing the grotesque orange coveralls that every prisoner here seemed to be donning.

          "Hi…" she said as she approached the nearest person.

          "You must be the new ones brought in yesterday…" the woman stated, had long green hair, and bright green eyes, her skin was ashen just as everyone else here.  "I'm Lorna…" she stated, "grab that cart there," she gestured.

          Kitty grabbed the handle of the cart and began pushing, following Lorna who was also pushing a cart towards a very large full washing machine.  "I'm Kitty."

          "What brings you here?" Lorna asked absently as she opened the washing machine and began to hall wet clothes into the cart.

          "I did the stupidest thing," Kitty sighed, "I hacked the GMCF internet information server…and got caught, and got my whole team in here."

          "Who's your team?" Lorna asked, glancing towards Kitty.

          "The X-Men…" Kitty responded, she helped in pulling the wet clothes from the washing machine.

          "The X-Men are here?!" Lorna gasped, "Oh my god, EVERYONE here has heard of you, you are like…heros…"

          Kitty smiled nervously, "Well…right now we're prisoners, same as you…" she sighed, "wish we were more though."

          Lorna nodded, understanding, "but still…you're The X-Men, you're bound to get us all out of here."

          "LORNA!" One of the mutants hissed, "you know they're listening!"  she gestured to a security camera up in the corner, then shook her head.

          Kitty glanced towards the Camera, "round the clock surveillance, huh?"

          "Except in the cells," Lorna admitted, "they used to, but the numbers in here have grown through the years, and funding is still limited…so no more cameras in cells."

          "Who runs all this?" Kitty asked quietly, she pulled some of the damp clothes into her own cart.

          "We're not sure, really," Lorna stated, "At first, we just had armed guards telling us where to go and what to do…" she explained, "then about a year ago, all these…clone things…started appearing…it's weird.  And at first, they were pretty useless, but now all of a sudden, within the last week, they've been showing powers…we're getting pretty scared, some of them have such volatile tempers."  
          Kitty nodded, "I know, how'd you think I got this?" she gestured to her head which was bandaged up with a piece of her nightgown.  "Hey…do you happen to know where the REAL Remy LeBeau is?"

          "Who?" Lorna asked, raising an eyebrow.

          "Remy LeBeau…" Kitty stated, "He's the mutant that the clones are based on…"

          "Oh…" Lorna shrugged, "Haven't seen anyone here like that, at least not a prisoner…"

          Kitty sighed, but tried to perk up a little, "What can you tell me about this place?"

          "Been running for about five years," Lorna stated, "I've only been here for two.  I was in a small Mutant vigilante group and we got busted and shoved in here.  Place wasn't so full then.  Now it seems they're busting mutants and throwing them in here for just about ANY reason.  And they're coming up with all this new crude technology…" Lorna stated.  "Before, it used to be these ugly yellow inhibitor collars, now it's these MX2Beetles," she gestured to her own neck, she had the same strange contraption attached to her neck that Kitty and Rogue had.

          "What is it exactly?" Kitty asked.

          "It's like an inhibitor collar," Lorna stated, "there's this little tiny pump in there that pushes MX2 into your bloodstream very slowly."

          "MX2?" Kitty asked, she helped load the damp clothes into a dryer now, still intently listening to Lorna.

          Lorna looked straight at her, "do you remember about…maybe seven or eight years ago there was all this rage about some drug on the street called MutantX?"

          "Yeah…I know about it," Kitty nodded, deliberately leaving out her knowledge of who had been supplying it.

          "Well, this is like an advanced version," Lorna explained, she pushed wet clothes in the dryer too, "you see, the original stuff, you would take and depending on the dosage it would last so many hours…but this stuff, oh, this stuff is far superior…it starts working the second it hits your bloodstream, and finishes working the second the supply stops.  Those little remotes those clones and guards are carrying, those stop the tiny pump that pushes out the MX2 into the blood," Lorna explained, "eight of us – including me – were test subjects for it, that's why we know."

          "Who invented it?"

          "I'm not sure…the clones were just basically instructed on how to control it as far as we know, change the vial and slip the needles into the right places.

          Kitty shivered, "this is so creepy."

          "So why did you hack the server?" Lorna asked, "what did you expect to find out?"

          "My friend Remy…" Kitty began, "he…I don't know what's going on exactly right at this moment, but he's involved in all this somehow, we don't know right now if he's a prisoner or if he's working for them or what, we're trying to find out.  We found a clone and THOUGHT it was him, until the clone committed suicide, and Rogue…that's my best friend, she noticed the clone wasn't him…and then we did some research and found out about the GMCF…it's…all very confusing."

          Lorna made a face, "sounds it."

          "Anyway, we hacked the server to try and find out more…and…we ended up here…" Kitty stated, then quietly stated, "Now the only problem is getting out again."


	5. Chapter 5: Don't Blow It

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 13

Chapter 5: Don't Blow It

Monet St Croix had been huddled up in the branches of a tree for two hours, unsure what she should do.  She'd thought she had it all planned out until the moment the clones had heard the clasp fall to the ground.  She wished she hadn't been so stupid as to have put it in her hair in the first place.

          If only I hadn't changed this would NEVER have happened, she fretted, she glanced from the tree towards the estate as she absently played with a lock of her long silky black hair.  She was lost, she had no idea how to handle the situation.  She didn't want to rush in throwing her fists left and right and murder any more of them, no matter how terrible what they had done was.

          All the instructors are right, I do things without thinking and don't consider the consequences, I should have planned this out properly before I rushed in.  She thought of how many times during training sessions she'd rushed in and done what she wanted and always came out looking good.  Sheer luck, nothing more, but now it seemed that luck had ran out. 

          Despite what she'd thought, she found that the instructors had been right all along.  Training sessions and actual missions were quite different, and she as a student should have known her place and left the real missions to Sean and Moira.

          But hope was not completely lost, she realised.  There were other ways into to the mansion and the subbasements without needing to go through the front door or the windows.  She drew her breath, all was not lost.

          I can't give up yet, she thought, frowning.  Right now I AM their only hope.

          Rogue placed down another pile of bricks near John Proudstar, "how long have you been in this place?" she asked curiously.

          "Almost two years, I think, I have lost track of time.  The first six months I was using a stone to scrape off the number of days on the wall, but after a while, it seemed pointless, as I am sentenced to life in here."

          "What did you do?" Rogue asked.

          "I stopped the murder of a mutant by an angry mob of humans," John sighed, "it's a funny thing, really.  When I saved his life, I forfeited my own."

          Rogue looked at him, "if you'd known back then that you'd end up in here for doing that…would you still save him?"

          John smiled, "absolutely."

          "You'd make a good X-Man," Rogue smiled a little also, "We could use a guy like you in our team…" she added and flew back down to grab some more bricks from the pile to bring up again.  "My powers feel limited," she huffed breathlessly, she took her hair in her hands and twisted it, slipping it beneath the back of her coveralls to keep it out of her way.

          "They will be," John nodded, "they got guards and clones all over the place controlling the MX2Beetles."

          "The WHAT?" Rogue raised an eyebrow, she wiped the sweat from her brow.  The heat in Genosha was staggering.  She'd once thought nothing could be hotter than summer in Mississippi, but now she had learned otherwise.  Her coverall was already soaked with sweat so that it clung to her uncomfortably.

          "The thing on your neck," John replied, "it's called the MX2beetle.  It's feeding MX2 into your bloodstream, and in the smallest dose it will limit your powers instantly – the more limited they are, the easier they are to keep tabs on.  In a normal dose you'll be powerless in seconds."

          "What's MX2?" Rogue asked, she wiped the sweat off her brow with the sleeve of her coveralls and took a few deep breaths, trying to cool down.

          "MutantX2," John said grimly.

          Rogue let out a little gasp, "I thought that went out of circulation seven years ago…" she chewed her lip.

          "It did…but it's back…" he stated, "more powerful than ever, and it can be controlled more easily too…" John explained, "a wise man I shared a cell with a year ago told me that his thoughts were that something in MutantX2 prepares the body for the electrical surges that the clones throw off at us every once in a while, and that while the pain will stay the same, the body will remain more immune to it – which explains why so many of us have survived so many shocks."

          Rogue despaired, "this place is a living nightmare…" she felt like breaking down and crying, "how can people actually TREAT us this way…?  Isn't this a violation of human rights?"

          "Does a mutant even have human rights anymore?" John asked thoughtfully, "The government doesn't seem to think so really, they're behind it all as far as I can tell although we can only go by what the others learned before they were thrown in here.  But way I see it, this has to be the Government, otherwise I don't see where the funding for this would come from…government has wanted rid of Mutants since day one, and now it looks like this is their way of doing so," he continued to press down bricks as he talked to her.

          Rogue stared in disbelief over the hundreds of mutants who were working over the site.  Further away she could see Logan, Piotr and Scott helping construct framework for the building, Logan and Piotr helping place heavy steel girders while Scott used his optic blasts on a fine laser like setting from his optic visor to meld the joins together perfectly.  She searched further through the mass of mutants and spotted Ororo, using her powers to create small rain clouds to bring water down to mix cement. 

          Rogue wondered where the Professor was, and if he was alright.  There didn't seem to be anything the Professor could participate in here, and that couldn't be a good thing. 

"BACK TO WORK!" Rogue heard a yell, and a jolt of electricity surged through her sending her shaking, she fell onto the platform, trembling still.  Her body felt as if several pins and needles were rattling around inside of her afterwards, and she lay there for moments, trying to recover.

          John knelt down and helped her up, "are you alright?"

          "Yes…" Rogue sat up, she clamped her hand on her neck, the pain most intense there, "just a little frazzled…" she pulled herself up, "I better get back to work…" she groaned.  She glanced around to try and spot the clone who had done this to her, but saw no sign of

          "Let me give you some advice, Rogue…" John said softly, he picked up a brick from the pile near Rogue's leg, "don't stop to think, think while you work, if you need to talk, talk while you work," he explained, "don't let them catch you off guard, agree with everything they say despite it goes against everything you ever believed in."

Rogue nodded, listening, she flew down to the pile of bricks on the ground, picked up a load, and came back up to the tower.  "Any more advice?" she asked sadly.

"Don't mess with the clones.  They've messed up so many people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time and happened to annoy them…" John stated.  "And most importantly," he added as he lay some cement down on the wall and slapped the brick down hard, "never show them your weakness…because they'll take full advantage of it."

"They already know my weakness," Rogue said sheepishly.

"And that is?" John asked.

Rogue sighed, "that I'm in love with Remy LeBeau.  And the problem is…they're all a part of him."

          Kitty found Jean in the large laundry room folding prison uniforms, Jean looked tired, and bruised, she'd obviously put up a fight and suffered.  Her cheek was pink and swollen, her lip cut.  "Thank god you're safe," Kitty rushed to hug her quickly.

          "I'm glad you're okay too," Jean moved back, "have you seen the others?"

          "No, you and Ororo are the only ones I've seen," Kitty explained, "me and Rogue are in the same cell."

          "I saw Logan and Scott being taken outside," Jean said, "the clones have been leading everything so far."

          "Your powers are negated?" Kitty asked.

          "Another new girl?" Lorna asked, "one of the X-Men too?" she stepped over.

          Kitty gestured to Lorna, "Jean, this is Lorna, Lorna, this is Jean," she gestured back to Jean.

          Jean sighed, "both telepathy and telekinesis are completely negated, I can't do a thing with my powers," she stated to Kitty.

          "Crap," Kitty winced, she'd hoped it might be different with Jean, but it seemed that she too was in the same bind.

          "Well…yeah," Lorna nodded, she pretended to be working by taking some uniforms out of the dryer, "telepaths are always sent to the laundry or kept in their cells," she admitted, "we figure it's because they'd be a threat to this place if they can send a telepathic S.O.S out further than Genosha."

          Kitty sighed, "there must be a way out of here."

          Lorna leaned close to Kitty and whispered, "if you're smart, you won't talk about trying to make escapes in here…the ones who do get taken by the clones and shoved into solitary for a week."

          "That doesn't sound so bad…" Kitty gave a shrug, not fully understanding the consequences of being caught planning escape.

          "You don't GET it," Lorna whispered, and her bright green eyes became wide and dangerous, "solitary is a tiny little cell – like a closet, only smaller.   You're boxed in, so tight you can barely move. There's no sounds or light, its so dark…And it's hot…so hot…" her eyes glistened with tears, "I've been in there…it's…its like a nightmare you can't get out of..." she looked away, "a few of us who went into solitary went mad…totally insane…if you're smart…you won't let yourself end up that way."

          "BACK TO WORK," the voice of one of the clones hollered over an intercom and everyone in the laundry room felt a sharp jolt of electricity.

          "GEEZ!" Kitty sucked in a breath of pain, "there has GOT to be a way to disable this…" she winced.

          "Yeah, try and be electrocuted to death," Lorna said.  "I've seen people die in here trying…just…make the most of it right now..." she kept her voice so low Kitty had to strain to hear it, "the X-Men are the only hope for ALL of us…please don't blow it."


	6. Chapter 6: Monet St Croix to the Rescue

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 13

Chapter 6: Monet St Croix to the Rescue

Monet flew across the grounds and to the back of the estate which ended in a cliff overlooking a large body of water, a large waterfall gushed from Bayville River which cut through the grounds behind the woods and into the back of the estate.  Monet had suddenly remembered about the hangar area under the grounds. 

The X-Men's blackbird jet and two smaller planes were located in a large hangar which was situated right under the grounds Basketball court.  Of course, the favoured exit from the hangar by flight was the Basketball court, which had been constructed to open up directly above the hangar.  But there was another way the planes and jet would leave the hangar…there was a long runway that proceeded about half a mile through the ground and ended at the cliff – concealed excellently by the waterfall. 

I can't believe I forgot about this, Monet thought as she followed the river to the waterfall, and dove downwards, in the dark it was impossible to tell there was anything there other than water, the sound of it rushing to hit the pool below was loud enough to conceal any sound Monet made as she landed.  She still had the flashlight, and she turned it on, shining the beam on rock and earth around the waterfall, finding no entrance.  She glanced around, trying to calculate exactly how deep in the ground the hangar was and where the jet would exit from the runway in the ground. 

Monet took to the air slowly, using what little light she could from the flashlight in order to try and find some kind of entrance, then she found it, a dark gap behind the rock and water, Monet held her breath and pushed her way in through the water, getting soaked in the process. 

Thankfully Jean Grey's leather uniform had provided enough protection against the water, and only a little went down the collar.  Monet rubbed the water off her face and shone the flashlight across the dark cave, a few feet away there were two large steel doors, they looked impenetrable, and Monet could bet she'd barely be able to punch her way through them even with her superhuman strength.

          Monet placed the flashlight between her teeth, and she slipped her bare fingers as much as she could through the very thin gap between the two closed doors, she frowned, concentrating all her strength into her arms, and pulled both ways, the doors barely moving at all, she continued to try for several moments, the strain pressing on her back and shoulders.  Trickles of water from her soaked hair trailed down her face mingling with the sweat building up on her forehead.  She broke a nail and yanked her hand back and swore angrily in her head, pouting.

          You're stronger than this, Monet, she told herself, don't be a silly little girl worrying about your fingernails.  If you want to be one of the X-Men, you have to forget about nails and concentrate on saving your team…

          She tried again, to her amazement, the doors began to budge ever so slightly, she heard the soft creak as they did.

          "That's it, that's it!" she said to herself enthusiastically, "you can do it…you can do it!" she pulled harder on each side, the door budging more and more, the gap she managed to make was just big enough for her to slide through sideways, and she did so, sweeping her soaked hair away from her face.

          She turned off her flashlight and hooked the keyring onto the belt on Jean's uniform.  She glanced down the runway.  It was almost pitch black except for the small tiny glimmer of lights lining the sides of the walls – giving enough light just to follow towards the hangar.

Monet decided the hangar's low-lights would also be on, and she expected the subbasement lights would be also.    As there were no windows, and the subbasements were, after all, underground, the lights were left on all the time so that everyone was able to find their way easily.  At night, they would be set to a lower setting, just bright enough to see where you were going, but not much else.  Monet just hoped that none of the clones would be patrolling those areas, she'd be seen far too easily with the lights on, and she hadn't spent enough time down in the subbasements to know where the lights could be disabled.

          Monet kept to the air as she hurried down the runway, the floors were steel and she knew the stiletto heels of her black leather Italian boots were likely to make a loud noise, and it would probably echo down the runway right to the hangar and alert someone.  She dared not even breathe.  She followed the small lights on the walls, the runway followed a spiralled pattern and finally ended in the hangar itself.

          Monet had been right in assuming the lights would all be on, they were, but at their lowest, so that strange shadows from the jet and small planes were cast upon the walls and floors.  Monet kept to those shadows, and moved along the walls.  No signs of any clones nearby.  She walked up the offramp leading to the door into the subbasement halls, and began to walk.  One of the lights on the ceiling was malfunctioning, and light was flickering on and off wildly.  Monet soared slowly down the hall, she slipped into the nearest room, it happened to be Hank McCoy's laboratory.  She glanced around, everything was silent, no one to be seen.  And then, to her horror, she heard footsteps descending slowly down the hallway nearby.  She began to panic, there was nowhere to go.  She yanked the flashlight off the beltloop on the uniform she was wearing and shone it around her quickly, there were no other doors leading out of there, the only way she could see happened to be an air vent.  It was her only hope.  The airvent was high up on the wall, and the grille was screwed down securely at the two bottom corners.  Monet used the button on the spring keychain of the flashlight to unscrew it quickly, her heart thudding as she heard those footsteps getting closer and closer, she took each screw out and kept a hold of them, lifted the airvent grille and flew in, letting it close with a sharp slap behind her.  She sucked in a breath.  The airvent was narrow, but she could look over her shoulder enough to see the flicker of flashlight being shone across the room beyond the grille.  She waited until It felt silent before she began to move throughout the airvent.

          At least I'm inside now, she thought.  She followed a maze of the vents, shuffling quietly, holding the flashlight between her teeth again as she went.  The direction she went through took her directly up to the mansion, and she soon found herself in a vent looking down into the foyer, she could see two clones guarding the area, they looked menacing in the dark, their red eyes burning through the night.  They were talking.

          "Who'd you think the girl was?" one clone was asking.

          "One of the students," the other clone replied, he was glancing around, Monet held her breath, remaining quiet, realising that anything she did now, even breathe too loudly could jeopardise her position.

          "All the students were shipped off obviously, there's been no sign of them…"

          "Maybe she broke in then looking for cash," the other shrugged.

          "Oh come on," the other clone groaned, "she was wearing an X-Men uniform, she's one of them."

          "I don't think she'll be back."

          "Number six went down to check the database for information on her, I guess we'll find out soon enough.  Minute she comes back, we'll be ready for her."

          "Can we do that?" the other clone asked, "what if she is a student?  You know the mutant containment facility isn't able to incarcerate mutants under the age of eighteen…"

          "Why is that, anyway?" the other clone asked.

          "The boss told us why, remember?" The other clone asked.  "mutants under the age of eighteen can still manifest other powers in addition to those they already have…" he stated, "it's a precaution."

          Monet drew her breath and frowned.  So that's where they've taken the X-Men to, she thought frowning, some mutant containment facility?  And in Genosha…

          Monet began to back out the way she'd came.   Where have I heard Genosha before?  She thought quietly, as she kept going.  Then it suddenly came to her, Genosha was in Africa. 

          Monet had spent the first eight years of her life in Africa, and Genosha came to her now as the place in a story her father had told her to get her to behave when she was young.  Stories of a mad scientist who had a laboratory there, who would come and snatch children in the night.  Up until then, she'd always thought Genosha didn't really exist.  She'd never seen it on a map as far as she knew, but there were several islands on maps that were never named, desolate places that didn't count as far as geography was concerned.

          Monet managed to make her way back to the laboratory, and she pulled herself out of the airvent, and dropped down into the lab once again, it was silent, and there was no sign of the clone that had been patrolling the area earlier that night.  She began to creep back down the hall, she took to the air and headed off down the area towards the hangar, and glanced around carefully for any signs of clones around.

          The coast was clear, and Monet was about to head back down the direction towards the runway, when she stopped, and glanced at the blackbird.  If she had to go to Africa, she definitely wasn't going to be able to do it by her powers of flight.  She silently crept under the blackbird and found an emergency exit hatch, she pulled the tightly wound handle, and climbed up inside into the warmth and dark.  She made her way towards the controls, and seated herself, pulling on a seatbelt.  She studied the controls.

          She'd never flown the blackbird before, but it looked to be easy enough.  On the flight to Scotland she'd been watching the controls as Jean Grey and Scott Summers had been piloting, it had not looked so difficult.  Monet smirked a little as she started up the blackbird, the control panel lighting up brightly, the lights coming on all along the inside panels. 

          As the engines roared to life and she pulled the jet down the runway she said to herself calmly, "Monet St Croix to the rescue."

(The end – OR IS IT!? DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNN.  I love a good dun dun dunnnnnn, don't you?  Blah, anyway, big thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing.  Love ya as always.  I know its dragging on but I could rush it and leave A LOT unexplained or I could draw it out and explain everything.  I know there's been no ROMY, but trust me, there will be at some point ;) )


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